With Huis+Hou+Ding (house+hold, household), Anna + Alet have created a playfully hirsute exhibition exploring aspects of being an Afrikaans woman. The Cape Town-based duo is made up of set designer and art director Anna Verloren Van Themaat, and hair and makeup artist Alet Viljoen. With their combined creative disciplines, the two designed and produced eight photographs and two multimedia sculptures, including Leuenstoel, a recliner covered entirely in blonde hair.

The objects and characters depicted symbolise ideas and ideals about religion, domesticity, femininity and beauty. Viljoen, who has been a hairstylist for ten years, tells us about her fascination with the discomfort often felt when hair is viewed outside its natural origin. “It is this uncomfortable feeling that opens up an internal dialogue. This dialogue is what intrigues me as it is relative to the viewer’s cultural background and personal history. Hair can speak of wealth, health, spiritualism, mysticism, religion, rituals, history, beauty, gender and age to name but a few, all depending on the background with which it is perceived. The use of blonde human hair extensions is directly linked to my own cultural background and the expectations thereof. It paints a picture of unrealistic unachievable beauty standards and beliefs that should not be questioned, yet are blindly followed.”

Surprising yet recognisable materials replace others while the viewers ask themselves “What is normal? What is taboo?” As modern consumer culture trickles into every facet of our daily lives, not even our homes are safe from outside influence; Huis+Hou+Ding utilises the supposed comfort and privacy of a home setting to question assumptions about domestic spaces and societal norms.